Good Morning El Paso 12.15.15

“the only thing i don’t do well on is ..a lot of people don’t like me as much as they like other people, but who cares!” 9 candidates will be on stage tonight for the last republican debate of the year. hear why front runner donald trump may face some challenges. / plus— the president announced his plans to fight isis after his meeting at the pentagon —what he’s saying his new aggressive actions will be. / and el paso city council will go behind closed doors once again today to talk about what to do with the city manager as an investigation is underway. the winds yesterday evening brought the much cooler temperatures with it. this is video our crews shot yesterday as the cold front rolled in. along with the winds— some parts of the borderland reportedly saw some light snow flurries last night— and even this morning! this is new video into our newsroom from an abc-7 viewer. katie ford in northeast el paso was excited to wake up to see the snow flurries this morning. we’ll get to the latest with the forecast and first alert coverage– but first—a very good morning el paso, las cruces, and juarez. i’m stephanie valle. and i’m hillary floren. good morning, everyone. first alert still in effect. this will be for the coolest air of the season, thus far. we’re looking at a high of only 49 today! low tonight of 26 degrees. we’ll also be windy, so cold wind chills all day. we’re likely to stay under first alert through thursday for cold air. could see a spot snow shower or rain this am. then we dry out the rest of today. we’ll talk more about what to expect for the rest of this work week and the weekend ahead coming up in your full forecast. nine candidates are gearing up for the big showdown ?the gop presidential debate … in las vegas with donald trump set to stand front and center. abc’s stephanie ramos reports from gop presidential debate tonight in las vegas. donald trump set to stand front and center. abc’s stephanie ramos reports from washington. it’s your voice, your vote. 0:09 – 0:12 / 0:20 – 0:30 / 1:26 – 1:26 1:00 – 1:07 the stage is set for the last gop debate of 2015. 9 candidates will stand on stage for the most critical event heading into the iowa caucuses.. trump sot: “i think we’re doing great in iowa, and i expect to win in iowa” at a rally in las vegas last night… trump took aim at some of his main sticking points?.like?mexico and the wall he intends to build. trump sot: “and i know how to build it. and i know how to get them to pay for it. it’s very simple. folks, you’re killing us. you’re making too much money. now, the wall is going to cost $9 billion, okay?” this talk?. has trump supporters hanging on …. brand new numbers out showing trump hitting 41 percent with republicans — the highest support he’s had yet in a national poll nearly three times as much as his closest rival. but this debate may now be a 2 man race ..between trump and senator ted cruz. in iowa, the two are in a virtual tie. on the debate stage ..trump … will be flanked by cruz and ben carson?. carson recently calling coverage of him and his campaign “dishonest”. carson sot: “in case, they can’t find any scandals. therefore, well let’s see if we can somehow make this guy look crazy.” the si remaing candidates will be florida senator marco rubio, former florida gov. jeb bush, businesswoman carly fiorina, ohio gov. john kasich, kentucky sen. rand paul and new jersey gov. chris christie. trump sot:” we love you trump!..i love you too.” whil trump predicts he’ll be the punching bag at this debate… he also says… trump sot: “it’ going be good.” tag: the democrats debate for the 3rd time this saturday on abc?. stephanie ramos abc news washington president obama gave an update on the fight against is after meeting with his national security team . the president said there’s been 9- thousand coalition airstikes to date. collaborating ground forces are helping to contain the terror group in the middle east. but the president added the fight is far from over.. “we’re going after isil fro their stronghold right down, right in downtown raqqa to libya, where we took our abu nabil, the isil leader there. the point is is leaders cannot hide and our next message to them is simple: you are next. here at home there are questions about whether officials missed warnings that san bernardino attacker tashfeen malik had jihadi sympathies before she came to the u.s. a-b-c news has learned a secret u-s policy prevented immigration officials from searching social media as part of the screening process. the department of homeland security tells abc news.. it has started pilot programs to search the social media of visa applicants. / saudi arabia has announced a new anti-terror coalition – to protect the nation from – quote – the evils of all armed groups and terrorist organizations, according to a statement on state- run saudi news agency. the coalition includes 34 states from the middle east, asia and africa. it will have joint operations center in saudi’s capital riyadh. on the agenda at today city council meeting– more personnel matters. after hours behind closed doors yesterday– representatives didn’t place city manager tommy gonzalez on administrative leave, but he’s not in the clear. gonzalez says he did nothing wrong when he gave the green light to search for a new financial advisor without city council’s approval. good morning el paso’s denise olivas is live with the latest…denise? that special meeting lasting six hours– what happens now? council can still decide to take action against tommy gonzalez. mayor oscar leeser, gonzalez and city attorney sylvia firth told abc-7 a healthy discussion was held the special meeting. gonzalez is under fire for authorizing that a search for a new financial advisor without council’s full vote. the move came at the suggestion of city rep. larry romero. gonzalez says he followed procedures. firth says she is now working on a report for city council. “and the city attorney’ office… his authorities are” city council expects that report as soon as possible. firth says it should be complete in the next 30 days. gonzalez city council expects that report as soon as possible. firth says it should be complete in the next 30 days. gonzalez says he too will work on a plan to improve processes. a few el pasoans are one step closer to re-election. that’s because the deadline to file for the texas primaries closed last night,.. and they won’t have an opponent! they are state senator jose rodriguez … state representatives cesar blanco … and joe pickett. county commissioner carlos leon … and county attorney jo anne bernal also don’t have opponents in the democratic or republican primaries. an interesting matchup is set for the state representative district 75 race. chente quintanilla wants his old job back. he’ll face incumbent mary gonzalez. you can check out other interesting races on kvia-dot-com. new information on a new system meant to cut jail expenses. abc-seven learned some are concerned it may violate your constitutional rights! some attorneys asked the county not to go through with a resolution designating the new criminal justice coordination department as a new law enforcement agency, which they claim would target poor defendants. but that didn’t stop commissioners court from approving it by a 3-0 vote today. commissioners carlos leon and david stout were not in attendance. a news release quotes a letter local attorney mario gonzalez sent to the council of judges: “the poor and indigent would be required to disclose personal information in violation of their fifth amendment privileges in order to get a temporary release from jail.” commissioner vince perez and county judge veronica escobar didn’t feel the concerns present a problem. they say the system is modeled after others in the state and throughout the country. take a look at your screen for a moment. call the d-e-a if you know where any of these people are. they are wanted fugitives linked to an alleged meth operation in new mexico. the d-e-a says 34 others are in federal jail this morning charged with trafficking the drug. the agency says they worked in several counties …. … with its home base in mescalero. that’s right by ruidoso, about two hours north of el paso on top of the 34 arrests… and now a manhunt for six others … we’re told 22 pounds of meth were confiscated. / also from our new mexico mobile newsroom … no arrests yet after a huge drug bust at the santa teresa port of entry. officials are calling it largest bust at the santa teresa port of entry since 2002. 5-thousand pounds of marijuana! it was found inside a commercial shipment of two tanker trailers. the shipment was chosen for an intensive exam … and x rays were taken. officers then drilled into suspicious areas in the bottom of both trailers. inside were bundles of marijuana. now it’s time to take a look at the tx-dot traffic cams… still much more to come here on good morning el paso — high winds are being blamed for blowing dozens of train cars off a bridge —we’ll take a closer look at the damage.. / plus— nearly 20 inches of snow is hitting another potion of the country —making for very dangerous road conditions—we’ll tell you where coming up. meteorologist krystal klei has your detailed forecast. krystal… and this is abc-7, where news comes first! high winds are being blamed for blowing dozens of train cars off a bridge in texas. authorities say 64 train cars blew over